Eye Opener: 3 Cabinet Secretaries Overseas

Happy Tuesday! Three Cabinet secretaries embark on important overseas missions today, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner continuing his trip to Europe and the Middle East while Gary Locke and Steven Chu visit their ancestral homeland of China on official government business.

The Treasury chief meets with Saudi King Abdullah later today after delivering a speech to the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce that defends the Obama administration's stimulus program and its international economic recovery efforts.

In his prepared remarks, Geithner reiterates his support for a strong U.S. dollar and cautions that, "It seems realistic to expect a gradual recovery, with more than the usual ups and downs and temporary reversals. Growth will turn positive before unemployment peaks, uncertainty will slow the pace of recovery in new investment, and credit conditions will remain unusually tight even as growth recovers."

The Wall Street Journal reports that "The trip to the Middle East, Mr. Geithner's first since stepping into office earlier this year, comes as the U.S. financial crisis has left key oil-rich nations in the Gulf skeptical of investing in the West. Sovereign wealth funds have lost billions of dollars on investments overseas, prompting some to consider pulling back from investments in the U.S. and Europe."

Half a world away, Chu and Locke will arrive in China for a series of meetings with leaders on renewable energy efforts.

"They will land in the middle of a building storm over China’s protectionist tactics to become the world’s leader in renewable energy," reports today's New York Times.

"Calling renewable energy a strategic industry, China is trying hard to make sure that its companies dominate globally. Just as Japan and South Korea made it hard for Detroit automakers to compete in those countries...China is shielding its clean energy sector while it grows to a point where it can take on the world."

The pair will make several speeches to academics and business leaders, tour factories and a "green" Walmart, mostly in the Beijing area.

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